Solar Power for 500,000 Households in Peru.

The NewÂ National Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program in Peru will cost aroundÂ US$ 200 million and will supply half a million households with solar electricity.

To fight the low electrification rate in rural regions, the country will install approximately 12,500 photovoltaic systems.

Peru is the third largest country in South America, with a population of 28 million, but it has one of the lowest rural electrification rates in Latin America: 30 %. This means that more than six million people do not have access to electricity. In 2006, overall 79 % of the population in Peru had access to electricity, a percentage that is below the average of 94.6 % of Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Energy and Mining Minister of Peru Jorge Merino explained, â€œThis program is aimed at the poorest people, those who lack access to electric lighting and still use oil lamps, spending their own resources to pay for fuels that harm their health.”

The program willÂ ensure that 95 % of the population will have access to electricity by the end of 2016. After the first part of the program, which began in July 2014, is completed, bidding for the rest of the installation contracts will start. Surplus solar electricity not needed by Peruvian citizens will be auctioned off.